Not so long ago, in a land far far away, I spent ten days on a rocky, icy landscape, bathed in the eternal sun. This far away land was Svalbard – a distant Norwegian archipelago at 79 degrees north. We set up base camp on a remote fjord and explored the neighbouring glaciers and peaks.

I was part of a trip organised by High Places. Our base camp consisted of a large orange dome which was the mess and hanging out tent. Then we had 3 small sleeping tents. This and a few logs to sit on, a fire, and an outside loo around the corner was to be our home for the next while.

During the day we would make hikes through this barren, cold landscape. In the night – a night as light as the…